


Amid The Starlight Snows

by TheSpectralDuke



Series: Reinette and Rhel'to [4]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Alcohol, Blow Jobs, Christmas Smut, Cunnilingus, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Lemon, NSFW, Not Beta Read, Porn with Feelings, Starlight Celebration (Final Fantasy XIV), Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:20:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28223052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSpectralDuke/pseuds/TheSpectralDuke
Summary: On Starlight Celebration, Reinette and Rhel'to share a few days away amid the snows of Coerthas. As the day itself comes to an end, they have many and more gifts for one another, their love the greatest of all.
Relationships: Original Character/Original Character
Series: Reinette and Rhel'to [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2045083
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7





	Amid The Starlight Snows

Coerthas had changed since she was a girl, Reinette thought not for the first time.

Snow drifted down, adding to the thick white blanket atop what had once been verdant green highlands. The Calamity had changed all that, transforming the foothills of Abalathia's Spine into fields of ice and frost, not helped by the Horde breaking fortress after fortress on its march toward Ishgard. The last time she had stood in the highlands had been a few moons after the Calamity's end, when the whole family had come to take in the novelty of their new climes, unsure if the snow would last.

Seven years now and still the snow fell.

Gloved hands gripped sketchbook and pencil, her hooded head bowed over the pages to protect them from the gently falling flakes. Snow crunched beside her and the auburn-haired elezen glanced to find Rhel'to shuffling a little with an apologetic look on his face. Even bundled up warm he shivered in the wind, stood tall while she crouched down to take in the chinchilla pack she painstakingly sketched, his woolen hat flaring up where it rested atop his ears. His revolver was at his belt, his grass green eyes looking at her lovingly a moment at a time then scanning the landscape for threats. As Reinette understood it the Horde had disbanded, the dragons now Ishgard's tentative allies, but it was whispered that some of Nidhogg's brood still burned with their father's thirst for vengeance. Even putting that aside, Coerthas had always played host to dangerous wildlife.

Reinette might have admired the wild, but she wasn't completely blind to the threat it posed her.

A few more pencil strokes completed her drawing, three chinchilla clustered together on the page as she held it up for Rhel'to to admire with a smile. The miqo'te grinned back, gloved fingers brushing over the page to sweep stray snowflakes aside.

“You still draw so beautifully,” he murmured, leaning close to let her hear him over the wind's increasing howl.

Reinette giggled a little. “You didn't think I'd lost my touch, surely?”

“Never,” the keeper grinned, pecking a kiss to her lips. “Everything you've drawn today has been wonderful, Reinette.” His hand lingered at her shoulder as he glanced around, taking in an approaching band of darker cloud.

“Does your father tell you that a storm's coming?” the elezen teased.

He laughed. “I don't need the signs he taught me to know that those clouds look to be bringing a blizzard with them. We'd best get back quickly before it arrives.”

Reinette's grin turned playful. “And here I thought you might suggest I sketch a while longer so we could end up seeking shelter in a cave.”

“With a convenient hot spring, no doubt,” the miqo'te laughed. “Thrilling as that night was, I think Coerthas caves are _much_ less welcoming than that one in the Sea of Clouds. And besides,” another kiss brushed her face, stray snowflakes wilting in his breath when he pulled back, “I would much rather treat you in our cottage and its nice, _soft_ bed, Reinette.”

She took the hand he offered to help get to her feet, brushing snow from her trousers and slipping her sketchbook back into her satchel to shield it from the weather. Hand in hand they trudged up the slope that led back toward Camp Dragonhead, though the fortress wasn't their destination. Instead they aimed their course through and past it, greeting proud knights with smiles even as the mail-clad soldiers sought the shelter of their barracks with the blizzard approaching fast. With haste the couple climbed the slope beyond, skirting the fall of Witchdrop and the territory where the ixal still roamed to find stone and wood blocks growing larger by the step up the mountainsides.

Before the Calamity had struck these cottages had been retreats for Ishgard's nobles, away from the hustle and bustle of the mountaintop city. But Bahamut's rage had seen many reduced to cinders, and those that had survived had become choked in ice and snow before the Horde's advances had left them simply unsafe. And Ishgard's knights had far more valuable points to protect than holiday homes, so they had lain abandoned for the better part of six years until the truce was signed. Even after that, trading cold city for cold highlands seemed to lack the appeal the cottages had had before the Calamity, so besides attempts of mixed success to advertise the novelty of snow to Ul'dah's wealthy, the main use they had found of late was as retreats for lovers seeking solitude.

Just as they did, with Stephanivien more than happy to encourage that they take a few days away from Ishgard and spend their Starlight together. Reinette smiled despite the cold wind on her face at the thought of the Haillenarte son and the smile he had had while seeing them off across the Steps of Faith. Even that crossing had seemed magical, more so than the times she had walked the bridge as a girl. The mere thought that her footsteps trod where the Warrior of Light had battled Nidhogg still made her shiver, she couldn't deny the allure of a hero forging a new verse of their legend atop the Steps.

The blizzard was nearly upon them when they reached their cottage, Camp Dragonhead slowly vanishing into the white far below. Wearily Rhel'to unlocked the door and let Reinette enter first, slamming it firmly behind them as the wind screamed and snowflakes danced in to join them. Reinette smiled, brushing the flakes from Rhel'to's shoulder as he turned to her then pulling the miqo'te close. They relaxed into each others' warmth in the cool of the cottage, hands slowly rubbing to pour heat back into freezing limbs and soothe the ache of their tired bodies.

Reinette leaned in after a moment just gazing into those wonderful grass green eyes, lips pressed to his in a tender kiss. The impulse to deepen it quickly burned but she resisted just as he did, just a few more bells, just a while longer, they thought in tandem. Reluctantly they let the kiss end, resting their faces an ilm apart.

“We ought to light the fire,” Rhel'to said hesitantly, but he didn't move for another moment, clinging to her embrace.

Reinette nodded and pulled away, letting her fingers linger on his cheek until he turned still smiling. In tandem they dispensed with their boots, padding over the floor in warm stockings. She had been lost in him so much she hadn't looked around the cottage when she stepped in, so she cast azure eyes around the gloom even as Rhel'to began to stack kindling in the brick fireplace, a crimson fire crystal resting atop the rough mantelpiece. A rug covered most of the cold stone floor, a table with three chairs up against the far wall, the fireplace to her right and the large bed to her left. It was all one big room, kitchen, dining room, lounge and bedroom all merged, the privy an outhouse a few yalms outside. But it was cozy even in the cold, and it was their home away from home for a few precious days.

While he lit the flame, the elezen retrieved carefully wrapped cuts of karakul from a sack laid against the wall, passing them to the keeper and receiving soft words of thanks in answer. With the flames roaring heat poured through the room until they simply had to remove layers to stay comfortable, coats hung on hooks by the door over their boots, hats and gloves discarded a little more haphazardly. Reinette was left in a jumper of Starlight red and black trousers, Rhel'to in a thicker shirt than normal and brown trousers.

They shared another little kiss before Rhel'to dug more ingredients from their sack, popotos, mushrooms and carrots, all humble fare for their humble lives. But it would be a Starlight meal cooked by their own hands, and that made it more special to Reinette than any of the feasts she had had for Starlights past.

As though reading her mind, Rhel'to spoke as he began cutting up the ingredients atop their small table. “What was Starlight like for you when you were younger? I suppose you had grander meals than this.”

“A great feast every year,” Reinette murmured, joining him and peeling popotos while he sliced up the karakul cuts. “We could never have eaten it all so the servants had our leftovers.” She frowned, more aware now of how unjust that seemed than she had before. Life as one of the commonfolk had a habit of shattering the views privilege had granted her about what was proper and what wasn't, even more so than choosing Rhel'to over that privilege had. “And of course, mother and father had the finest gifts for us and a proper Saint of Nymeia, at least until we were old enough to understand it was just Ser Arismont in a fake beard.”

Rhel'to laughed. “It sounds very festive.”

Reinette looked down, careful as she worked the knife through popoto skin. “It was lovely, every single year even after mother thought Finnea and I were too old for it and only father and Ser Arismont kept up the tradition.” She faltered at the thought of her sister, hands stopping in place long enough that the keeper set down his work to nuzzle close.

“Would that both our families could be with us,” he murmured, brushing a kiss against her cheek while one hand rubbed slow circles on her back.

“What was Starlight like for you?” Reinette asked, eager for a distraction. He hummed as she picked up the knife to continue peeling.

“Modest,” he said finally. “Not a lot of time for it when there's hunting to be done and mouths to feed, and I always was the worst of us at that.” They shared a little chuckle. “And we never had a Saint of Nymeia, though I suppose Kehda did always try to leave each of us a gift.” Reinette nodded as he slowly let her go, returning to his own task. “Masha never had time for it. Too much of ma in her and not enough grandma, too serious about taking care of us all to indulge when there was work to be done. But Qina loved it...” He stopped cutting as a wistful haze glazed over his eyes. “It snowed one year, deep enough that you couldn't even see the roots where they stuck right up above the ground and we thought the stream might freeze over. And Qina was running around like a mad thing, throwing snowballs at all of us, she even hit grandma with one.” He laughed like he was a child again, watching his sister's mischief with bright approving eyes. Reinette smiled in turn, drawing him close. “Ma was furious, but grandma just _cackled_ and got out of her chair and joined right in. I wish you could have been there, just throwing snowballs with us all, getting soaked and not even caring.”

“Mayhap one day I could,” the auburn-haired elezen mused, kissing his cheek and feeling her heart dance at the warm smile he cast her way.

“One day,” he breathed. “Masha missed the snowballs, she was out hunting and she came back all caked in blood from a boar she'd speared. And I remember she just stripped right off and dived in the stream, it must have been freezing but she didn't seem to care at all. I thought she must be the toughest girl in all the Shroud.” Another chuckle. “That was our Starlight meal, of sorts, the boar she got for us.”

Reinette laughed a little. “Mayhap _she_ was your Saint of Nymeia. Was she wearing red? Did she grow a beard on the hunt?”

Rhel'to pecked her cheek playfully as he swept the finished cuts of meat toward the little pot in which they would make their stew. “She was gone barely two bells, let alone the years it would take her to grow a beard, even if she could. And as for wearing red, oh no, Reinette,” he adopted a tone that was surely an imitation of his sister's, haughty and clipped, “a hunter must needs be invisible against their surroundings in order to best their prey'.”

“And was she?” the elezen asked, slicing apart the last popoto and passing him to add the vegetables to the pot.

Rhel'to nodded. “That was the only game I could ever get her to join us for, hide and seek. Only because she saw it as hunting practice and made us all stalk around rather than staying still, and I swear every time it was my turn to hunt I never found her.” Now it was Rhel'to who peeled and Reinette who cut, carrots for him and mushrooms for her, all joining the rest in the pot until the stew was prepared. Carefully Rhel'to hung it over the fire, watching it even as they retreated to the table to wait. Fingers reached across the wood, meeting, twining, hands holding each other tight.

“Tell me more,” Reinette sighed softly. “About your family. About Starlight.”

Rhel'to smiled at her. “There's not much more to tell. The Starlight before I left, Masha gave me a spear she'd carved herself. Said she hoped it would serve me well.” His ears drooped a little, gaze falling to their hands. “I lost it within a fortnight. I tried to be her, taking on a boar around Urth's Font,” he caught her puzzled gaze at the unfamiliar name and gave her an apologetic look, “but I was never as good as her. Never as fearless as her. I was lucky to escape with just a scratch.” Reinette remembered the scar, a faint little mark on his side so unremarkable she'd never imagined it was a boar that had done it. “I never had the courage to go back for the spear.”

“I'm sure she would understand,” the elezen murmured.

Another little smile. “Curse my stupidity to Menphina every night for a moon, more likely.” He fidgeted, fingers brushing back and forth between her knuckles until a hiss from the stew made him stir. The miqo'te crossed to examine it. “What sorts of presents did you get as a girl?”

“Fine dresses,” Reinette sighed. “All manner of ointments and the like to make myself more beautiful.” She found herself frowning a little just at the thought. “The sort of things you get for little girls.”

“And none of it things you truly wanted?” Rhel'to said with a grin back at her.

“Oh, I wouldn't say that,” Reinette smiled. “The dresses _were_ lovely, just... hardly the sort of thing I'd wear doing what I really want to do.” She reached for her satchel, laying her sketchbook on the table. Slowly she flicked through her drawings as Rhel'to finished tending the stew and returned to her, setting down a red-filled bottle.

“Did you forget the wine Stephanivien gave us, love?” he teased softly.

“I wasn't sure if you wanted to save it to have with our meal, love,” she answered with a little grin

Rhel'to chuckled, smiling at her as he rubbed his thumb back and forth over the back of her hand. “I thought we'd saved it long enough, and it'd be a shame to keep waiting.”

Reinette giggled but nodded as he reached to undo the bottle's seal. Besides the bottle of wine, their only source of water was a stream running down the mountain nearby that they filled waterskins from, and so he drank straight from the bottle in a little tentative sip that made Reinette giggle again. “How is it, love?” she asked, unable to stop another peal of laughter at his expression.

“Strange,” the miqo'te murmured. “But I haven't really drunk wine before.” Reinette nodded, taking a sip of her own. Spices burned rich on her tongue as it went down, heady and wonderful, making her think of Starlight just from that little taste. She took another sip to sample more before passing it back to Rhel'to, licking a drop from her lip as he smiled at her.

“It's wonderful,” she sighed, watching him drink a little more. Back and forth the bottle went, though they were careful not to drink too much while the stew still bubbled away. Outside the wind screamed, hard snowfall battering on the shutters but they ignored it, just tipsy enough that they laughed and kissed across the table over and over. The bottle soon rested against the wall, set aside lest they drink the lot and pass from merry to drunk.

“I love you,” Rhel'to crooned, eyes brilliant in the firelight as he glanced back at the stew. “It must be done, surely?”

Reinette crossed the room and he followed, the two inspecting the stew together with a little stir. “Mayhap a little _too_ done,” she purred mirthfully, a kiss coming to heal his frown. “But I know it will be delicious, Rhel'to.”

“Because we poured all our love into it?” he asked while he cautiously lifted the pot, letting her retrieve wooden bowls from a cupboard. Though his voice rang with mirth, Reinette knew he only half joked.

“Exactly,” she replied, slowly wrapping arms around his midriff as he portioned out the stew then set the pot down on the cold stone to cool. Reinette trailed as his shadow while he set their steaming bowls down, relaxing into her grip as she pressed soft kisses into his hair, finding an ear to treasure.

“Reinette,” he breathed, on the edge of a needy whine. “Oh, Reinette, _eat_ before the stew gets cold.”

Reinette giggled, a mock pout on her lips as she let him go and took her seat again. “I love you,” she said, unable to keep even fake frustration on her face, she adored the wonderful, perfect man who had chosen _her_ too much to even pretend to be anything other than giddy with her love on this most special of evenings.

“I love you too,” Rhel'to replied, smile wide as could be, eyes bright even with the firelight on his back. Even as they ate, Reinette wincing as she took a spoonful too quickly and singed her mouth, they continued to pour affection across the table, fond memories, affirmations of love, sudden little remarks of something or another they adored about each other.

If the stew was a warm ember in her belly, Reinette thought, then his words lit a fire bright as the sun in her heart.

In time spoons lay at rest in empty bowls and they took the wine once again, drinking deeper, stopping only when Rhel'to went to stoke life back into the dying fire. The room was bathed in its heat, but more than that Reinette felt like her cheeks would burn as the alcohol coursed through her and her heart beat quick and hot with passion. She downed more wine, feeling it flood down her throat to fuel the warmth inside her as she passed the bottle back over.

“I have something for you, love,” Rhel'to murmured, grinning like a boy again. His chair scraped across the stones as he reached for where his pack lay against the wall, reaching within to receive a cloth-wrapped package tied with a blue ribbon. Still smiling his giddy tipsy smile, he turned to hand it to her just to find Reinette turning away. “Love?”

Reinette giggled as she glanced back. “I wouldn't let you go without a Starlight present from me too, Rhel'to.” Her grasping hands found the parcel she had slipped under the bed the day before when he hadn't been looking, holding up a similarly-wrapped present. It was a slightly different shape and the ribbon on it was green like his eyes, the sight of it making Rhel'to smile wider. He reached out and they exchanged gifts in tandem, settling back in their seats as they let the presents rest on the table a moment.

“Together?” he asked.

“Together,” Reinette agreed. Ever glancing between each other and their gifts, they carefully undid the ribbons, treating them like they were made of gold even as they worked to see what lay within each package. Cloth spread across the table as they worked, pooling out over the wood until their gifts lay bare. A scarf rested in front of Reinette, woolen and comfortable-looking, patterned in white and blue. When she held it up to examine it closer, she found paissa knitted in the white against a background she realized was meant as a blue sky, eyes wet as she looked at her lover. “Oh, Rhel'to, I...” Words failed, caught in her throat against a lump of raw tender emotion as she stared dumbstruck at him and tried to let him know how she felt through the gaze alone. She hugged the scarf tight to her chest.

“You were always happy up there,” Rhel'to murmured, fingers resting a moment as he smiled at her. “I thought you could use a scarf, love, and that you'd like to be reminded of, ah, not the place we met, but-” His cheeks blazed with embarrassment as he stammered words out, her giggle bringing him to a halt.

“I love it,” she grinned, wrapping the scarf around her neck and running her fingers over the wool. “And I love you so much, Rhel'to. I want you to see my present as well.” He nodded, cheeks still flushed as he returned to untangling the cloth. “Ah, sorry, I wanted to be sure-”

“Don't worry,” the miqo'te murmured, the last folds falling away. Nestled within, a little wooden charm lay on simple string, words carved painstakingly onto its surface. He turned the charm around to read each in turn, Reinette's lips reciting each in turn. Grandma. Ma. Masha. Kehda. Qina. The names of his family stretched around the outside of the charm, with two more at its heart. His name first, carved with the same care, then hers beneath. Now it was his eyes brimming with tears as he clutched the charm to his breast as she had the scarf, staring at her with raw love in his eyes.

“You can't really take that rock with you from day to day,” Reinette explained softly. “So I thought you'd like to have everyone you care about close to your heart every single moment.”

“Oh, _Reinette..._ did you carve it yourself?” he whispered, the fire crackling over him.

“I did, while you worked,” she replied. “I thought about ordering it from a craftsman but-” He all but rushed around the table, the half-empty wine bottle shaking when his hip knocked on a leg in passing. Reinette received him eagerly, meeting him in a warm and passionate kiss, their arms tight around each other as they pressed their lips together hard again and again. Gratitude, affection, adoration, passion, love, all of it poured out between kisses, a torrent of whispered names, thank yous and I love yous spilling in the gaps between each fierce touch of face to face.

When it ended they were breathless and burning, hands rubbing on backs as they nuzzled close. Reinette pulled him closer into her lap, the chair creaking a little but she hardly cared as she breathed in his scent with her face in his hair. Lips ran up and down his ear in a slow, tender march that still left him purring and wanting, his own mouth brushing her neck just beneath the scarf.

“I love you,” Rhel'to breathed huskily, working the charm down around his neck with a look of pure happiness on his face. “You could have brought me the largest diamond in Ul'dah and it would mean less to me than this, Reinette. Thank you, and I only wish I could say I had made that scarf myself...”

“Whatever would the Saint say?” Reinette chided playfully, a sincere kiss pressed on his forehead. “Tis the thought that counts more than the money spent, and I adore it, Rhel'to. Just as I adore _you_.” He sighed in contentment and nuzzled close to her again, embracing her tight as he could, his tail coiling around to rest on the small of her back.

“I'm glad,” he murmured, “that I met you. More than anything, I thank the gods for that, Reinette.”

“I do too.” Another kiss, clumsy in their tipsiness but full of honest yearning such that the bump of cheek on cheek was forgotten immediately. The fire was slowly dying again but she only barely noticed, his body against hers a furnace even the blizzard couldn't quench. Again and again they kissed until they were thirsty both for drink and for each other, drunk on the heady cocktail of wine and love. Reinette's hand fumbled for the bottle with her eyes yearning not to leave his, brushing rough on the glass and making it shudder before grasping fingers tightened at its neck. They drank a deep draught each, sharing the taste with another kiss that swiftly threatened to deepen. She _wanted_ him, _burned_ for him, trying to pull him tighter into her lap even through it was impossible.

“Ah Reinette,” he breathed heavy on her face, his scent tinged with the wine's spice. “Might I give you another present?”

“By all means,” Reinette smiled, pecking his lips again before he tugged out of her grip. His steps were unsteady as he left her, his hand clumsily snatching up the ribbon she had wrapped his present with before he made to saunter back past her.

“I want it to be a surprise,” he said as she made to look after him. “I won't be long, love.” Reinette could already guess where this was going and a little giggle escaped her.

“I hope not,” she laughed merrily. “I miss you already.” He smiled as he passed her and true to her word she kept her gaze fixed toward the fire, even as she caught the rustling of cloth just beneath the crackling of flames. Her anticipation grew as she took another sip of wine to keep herself from looking back, the spice sharp on her tongue while her mind danced with visions of what awaited when she turned around. Was that the creak of the bed she heard?

“Ready, my love,” Rhel'to's voice purred out an instant later, and Reinette swore she had never turned around so swiftly in all her life. Her chair's legs screeched on the stones as she swiveled around atop it, eyes turning to the bed's expanse to find him resting atop the sheets bereft of his clothes. Just as she had expected, and that made her grin a giddy grin as she ran her eyes up from his feet. All of Rhel'to was on show for her and even if it wasn't a new sight, there was one new detail that made her heart pound with excitement. Her gaze wandered upward, savoring gray skin cast in the glow of firelight so that light danced alluringly back and forth, the edge of walnut curls aglow up his chest and around his half-roused cock. Reinette looked higher up his body past the charm he had donned to at last find that new detail, the grass green ribbon tied around his neck like, dare she think it, a _collar_. “I, ah, I know the tradition is to tie the ribbon around your waist, but-”

Reinette giggled at his flushed face and his nervous little mouth as she rushed closer. “Oh, Rhel'to, I love you,” she cried, words gasped out in her passion. His ears perked up and his eyes glowed with love and firelight both, the miqo'te lunging to meet her at the bed's edge. Lips clashed once more while her eager hands came to savor him, running down his front and back, the former coming to rest amid his chest hair, the latter stretching until she found his tail and stroked at the former. Rhel'to moaned into her as she pressed a finger against that spot at his tail's base, her name coming muffled from his mouth right into hers as finally they let their kiss deepen. He tasted of the wine's spice as well as himself, heady and perfect.

If she had felt hot before, the embrace made Reinette _swelter_ , blood like fire in her veins as she felt Rhel'to's hands touch and grope eagerly.

One found her rump and its squeeze had her moaning in answer, his other hand brushing roughly through auburn locks as they just kept up the kiss as long as they possibly could. Nothing else seemed real while it lasted, just him and her to make up all the world, burning and passionate and perfect a world as it was. The elezen groaned into him, feeling his mouth begin to move downward and press kisses over her chin, his hand at her hip and questing around to her front.

“Reinette,” he moaned when she reached lower to give his cock just one quick stroke, his hips thrusting in answer. “Oh, Reinette, I want you.” His husky voice burned with that _need_ and she was powerless to resist its call, not when the heat in her blood had her yearning to all but rip the clothes from her body and spend her passion with him until every drop was gone.

“Such a lovely present you had for me, Rhel'to,” she crooned in a low voice, sultry wasn't _her_ but wine and hunger made her daring. “I have another for you.”

“You do?” he teased, nipping at her neck. A whimper escaped her throat, _gods_ , his touch-

“Oh, but I'm afraid,” she forced out even though the heat in her loins throbbed unbearably, “it still needs unwrapping.” Her hands withdrew from him, resting at her breasts a moment then gliding down her body. One brushed over her slit and she felt the touch even with two layers between, keeping her eyes on his to see the flames of desire explode within.

“Unwrapping, you say?” Rhel'to grinned, fangs bared as he lunged. Reinette squealed as he took her in another kiss, his hands at work. He started below, trembling fingers loosening laces roughly until he could tug her trousers down and lay fittingly crimson smalls to bear. The miqo'te drew back to steal a glance, stunned a moment by the lacy panties she had donned in anticipation of just this sort of end to their day. “Reinette-” She pressed her lips back on his, hot and hungry and needy, incandescent with how she loved the man in her arms, his splendid eyes, his loving heart, every single ilm of him she wanted to bless with her lips. But all too quickly he had to fall, working trousers and stockings off her feet to discard them among his own clothes.

He lunged back up, climbing her in a rush to return to kissing her while his hands unlaced her shirt next. Reinette clung to him, running her hands up and down his naked body, familiar territory trodden with unfamiliar sensations. Alcohol wasn't something either of them had much time for, but she found the wine intensifying the familiar, quickening her blood, making her more daring. As the shirt slipped away from her head and fell she pressed herself to her lover, clinging his head tight to her breast and wrapping herself around him as best she could. Rhel'to moaned on her skin as she rubbed on his hard member, her damp panties and a thin bralette all that separated skin from skin.

“Oh, Rhel'to,” she moaned in return as his hands returned to her body, warm on hot skin as he savored her. They pressed together, rocking back and forth with her lips on his ear, his lips on her breast. The miqo'te's hips bucked and Reinette gasped as his cock brushed the base of her sex, trembling with pleasure. A whine followed as Rhel'to's head dipped lower, finding a hardened nipple beneath the bralette and giving it a suckle that left her panting. “Ah, oh _Fury_ \- ah!” His finger traced her slit so slowly, so teasingly, and Reinette's knees trembled.

“So perfect, my love,” Rhel'to breathed, voice a fiery purr as he continued to worship her. “Did you wear these just for me?”

Reinette could only nod a moment, overwhelmed by lips on her nipple and that finger pressing just a little into her folds. “Rhel'to... ah-!” He continued to stroke up and down her sex, head lifting so he could take her neck. Her own hands moved in turn, one at the nape of his neck rested on the ribbon, the other grasping for his hard, weeping cock to pleasure him.

“I can think of only one way to improve on perfection,” he teased, nipping her neck again.

“Oh, what is it?” she purred back, voice wavering as his fingers slipped to the edge of her panties. He rubbed them along the hem as though debating whether to yank them aside and touch her sex with nothing in his way, oh gods, she wanted him to do it but he continued to just stroke back and forth playfully. “Rhel'to, please-”

He suckled hard on her throat and Reinette wailed his name above the crackling flames and howling wind. She let him walk them backward until her rear met the table's edge, wondering breathlessly if he meant to take her on it. But he kept her standing at the edge while it pressed uncomfortably on her hips, leaning around her so his body was against her side. She kept her hands on her lover all the while, continuing to work at his cock with pre-stained fingers, stroking at his back until he returned.

Rhel'to held the blue ribbon to her eyes and Reinette could only grin as he wrapped it around her neck, tying it just tight enough to be comfortable yet secure.

“I want to wear it all the time, love,” Rhel'to whispered between warm kisses, hands flowing under her arms to meet at the tie of her bralette. “Proof that I'm yours.”

“Proof that I'm yours,” Reinette repeated, burying her face on his while his fingers worked. Even when she felt the lacy smalls come loose and fall from her breasts she held the kiss, brushing the garment to the floor then twining her hands against his back, holding him tight as she could. Rhel'to did the same a moment, neither willing to break the embrace or stop pressing bodies, mouths, _tongues_ together. The fire was dying behind them but Reinette could hardly care for that nor the blizzard's howls, she had Rhel'to, Rhel'to had her, and all the world was right.

Back they stumbled, drunk on wine and love, giddy with the taste of each other as they tripped into bed like they were one before the act had truly started. Each break they were forced to take lasted moments at most, a quick deep gasp for breath followed by a kiss that sought to outdo the last each time, all while they shifted in search of more wonderfully intimate friction. Soon they lay side by side and her legs parted to let Rhel'to slip into place against her heat, the miqo'te already beginning to thrust out of raw instinct. Each brush of cock to slit left them moaning and her core even more sodden and sweltering, the flame of love burning brighter as the fire behind them burnt itself to embers. Slowly the miqo'te's hands crept down her back, fingers clenched against her skin until they became hooks on the hem of her panties.

“Please, Rhel'to,” she gasped into him. The miqo'te purred back as slowly the sodden cloth slipped away from skin and hair, running down her legs at his bidding. He left them dangling near her ankles when he couldn't reach lower without breaking their kiss, leaving Reinette to awkwardly brush them off with clumsy kicks and giggle into his mouth at each failure. Rhel'to laughed back giddily as they parted an ilm, laying still a moment and staring into equally brilliant eyes. He leaned in to press a kiss to her neck and in particular the ribbon around it, a gesture she returned in earnest.

“I love you, oh, I _love you_ ,” Rhel'to breathed headily, each word singing in her ears. Reinette pressed her lips to his skin, touching, tasting, it was her turn to trace a line down his body with her kisses and let him rest with fingers in her hair. The miqo'te shivered as she teasingly licked at his belly button before continuing down, nose coming to rest in walnut curls a moment to devour his scent hungrily while her lips brushed on his cock. Fingers stroked down to gather her hair in anticipation, tugging it back behind her neck gently while Rhel'to rested his gaze on her face. Reinette watched him in turn as she crawled back, her legs pressed to cold stone as she brushed her tongue over his tip just once and relished the way he groaned.

“Relax, love,” she called up to him. “Let me tend you now.”

Rhel'to nodded with a whine as she kissed at his tip, a hand grasping his shaft and beginning its work. His tail lashed at his side, stroking back and forth over the covers in wild throes as the elezen worshiped his cock with her mouth, lips and tongue together bathing the swollen head. She pulled back to admire her handiwork a moment, first his flushed face and agape mouth, then the way his cockhead glistened with spittle and pre alike in dying firelight. She gave Rhel'to a tipsy little smirk then returned to her task, taking him between her lips and sinking down onto her quicker than she usually did. For a moment she feared she would gag on him, but it passed swiftly to let her work her mouth down his shaft, relishing every moan and gasp that passed his lips. The elezen took him deeper and deeper, relishing the taste of him, the feel of his length in her mouth and his spare fingers stroking over her scalp as she continued.

“Reinette, oh _gods_ ,” Rhel'to groaned, his hips bucking up at her face. Slowly Reinette worked up and down his shaft, taking quick breaths whenever her lungs burned too keenly then taking him again, eager to please him and the obscene desire to see him come completely undone quickly growing. Her lips slipped down, down, down until they met his root, leaving her to drown in the scent of him while she struggled to keep that cock in her mouth. The miqo'te moaned, hand slipping to her face and brushing over her cheek while his hips thrust up once, twice, a third time to force Reinette to let him go. Spittle dripped and splashed as she panted, throat and lungs blazing but still she was giddy, the look on her lover's face enough to snatch her breath away. Rhel'to leaned up and kissed at her spoiled face, lips then tongue wiping her clean while the elezen gasped in deep breaths.

“I love you,” she gushed with the first wind she had, relishing the smile she brought to his lips. He let go of her hair so he could cup her face, letting her breathe a while once he had had her clean again.

“I love you too,” the keeper whispered. “Come up off the floor, Reinette, it must be freezing.” She nodded, finally noticing how numb and chilled her shins and knees felt even as those hands moved to under her arms, helping her crawl back up until she was over him, noses brushing with each dip of her head. Tipsy and giddy they stayed like that a moment, basking in each other, eyes dancing across faces trying to communicate through that alone their love for one another.

To be with him and him alone was in some ways the greatest Starlight present she had ever had, Reinette thought before she leaned down to kiss him again.

Rhel'to's hands found her shoulders and pulled her down, letting her collapse on top of him until they lay pressed tight together. Their kisses were hot and fierce again, that moment of peaceful adoration giving way to a raw longing hunger that they burned to sate. Her legs straddled him as she crept upward, longing to feel his cock against her sodden folds even though it meant losing his lips on hers. Even so he kept kissing as she climbed, flowing down her neck, tracing a line across the ribbon around her own throat while at last their bodies fell into place. Reinette pressed herself to him, moaning aloud as she pressed his cock down and its base pressed into her slit in turn.

“Rhel'to, oh Rhel'to,” she gasped into his hair when she leaned to press her mouth to his ears.

“Reinette, ah- by Menphina!” he cried in turn as she began to rock back and forth, sliding herself along his shaft, seeking to drench it in her need. His suckles on her throat descended as a hand found her breast, kneading it a few times before awkwardly fumbling as his mouth approached. Reinette rolled her hips and felt him press _hard_ into her, scraping his length right on her clit and wailing with ecstasy, his groan in answer making her yearn for more. Again and again she repeated it, each stroke igniting her with levinbolts for a wonderful instant, Rhel'to's mouth on her breast helping her soar higher and higher. Everything had her incandescent, his cock against her core, his mouth around her nipple, even the ribbon like a collar of her own adding a new angle to their lovemaking. Beneath her the keeper of the moon cried her name like prayer right into her breast, moving to the other as best he could while Reinette still pinned him down atop the sheets.

“Rhe'to, oh _Fury_ , gods-ah!” Rhel'to's hips bucked and the slam of cock on clit made stars dance over her eyes, leaving the elezen stunned a moment before she could continue riding him. Whimpers poured from her lips a moment before she let her pleasure pour out onto him loud as she could, no one could hear them, no one was around for a malm surely and the blizzard would take everything she said regardless. “Oh, I want you, I want you so much love, please-” Another upward thrust of his hips and Reinette cried out, shivering with raw pleasure.

“I'm yours, oh Reinette!” She felt the purr in his voice as he continued to lavish her breasts, leaving them warm under his touch, but much as she loved that attention she wanted his wonderful mouth somewhere else. Her hips stilled atop him, letting her petals rest on and around the spine of his cock while she gathered her wits.

“Taste me, Rhel'to, please,” she breathed, feeling him stiffen beneath her before she tumbled herself off to his side. They could never have done so on his bed at the manufactory, not easily, at least, but this bed was an ocean compared to a lake, large enough and more for passionate throes. Not wanting to subject Rhel'to's legs to the cold cruel stone, she crawled back on her elbows until her back was on a pillow and her head rested on the wall. Her _beautiful_ lover crawled on hands and knees between her spread legs, want and love combined in his eyes, the firelight so dim now that she could see them gleam in the gloom. His tail coiled over him, lashing wildly as he approached. “Oh, Rhel'to, having you like this...”

“Like a dream come true,” he purred back as he let his arms collapse, tumbling to bring his face to her core. His breath washed on sensitive folds and Reinette writhed at the feel of it, legs spread wide as they could go, her anticipation keen enough to catch her breath before she felt his lips press to her thigh then dive inward. He kissed quick and light, treasuring all around her soaked heat, burying his face against auburn curls before finally tracing down the wet line of her sex with his incredible mouth. He glanced up, finding her face with green eyes as she felt his tongue _scrape_ through her petals, parting her with a single stroke that made her cry his name for the blizzard to hear. Another followed and another, each angled just differently, each sampling her in a slightly different way to make her writhe in ecstasy as Rhel'to quickened his pace.

Greedily the miqo'te drank her nectar, swirling his tongue around her sex, taking folds in his mouth to suck on them until she screamed. Reinette bucked her hips against his face, wanting nay _needing_ him to go deeper, to add fingers to the lips and tongue that sent such pleasure searing through her, but every time she tried to voice that desire Rhel'to had another way to turn words to incoherent screams. He gripped her clit in his mouth and suckled _hard_ , her head pressed on the stone firmly as she panted and writhed and screamed his name over and over.

“Rhel'to, ah ah ah _gods Rhel'to_ , yes yes, like _that_ -!” He stroked two fingers over labia beneath his mouth and Reinette forced herself to nod, sure he was watching but her eyes were squeezed tight in her throes. The back of her head scraped on rough stone when he pressed those fingers inside her, slipping them in and out a few times then _clenching_ them until she wailed his name again. It was too much, far too much yet not enough at once, it felt so good but the time for foreplay slipped by just as the fire faded out on the other side of the room. “Rhel'to, love-! Ah, please, make love with me!” she wailed as he sucked hard again, fingers moving in time before his ears caught her words.

The miqo'te drew away from her core with mouth and fingers sodden, climbing her with a trail of warm quick kisses in his wake. He pressed one to each nipple and Reinette moaned at each, brushing her fingers through his hair as he reached her face and took her lips again, pressing her own taste into her mouth while she slid herself down with him to bring their heads atop the pillow. Soft down replaced hard stone to let her neck rest, a final kiss passing before Rhel'to too crept back the way he had come. Reinette stared at him as he slid into place between her thighs, admiring his warm eyes, his hair a little longer than their first night but it suited him, that green ribbon around his neck telling all the world he was hers. She rested fingers on her own ribbon, swearing in her heart, wishing with all her might that she could stay with him and share such happiness for all their days.

Rhel'to just smiled at her, giddy on love and wine, still burning with passion just for her and she burned all the more in answer. “Ready?” he murmured.

“Please,” Reinette breathed back, too eager to wait, already trying to work her hips closer. Rhel'to chuckled just a little, but an instant later he slid into her, both of them too pent up to take it slowly. Reinette gasped breathlessly at the sudden feeling of fullness while he leaned in and pressed his body to hers, his first few thrusts slow and clumsy as he tried to find the right angle. Each time he took her to his hilt, burying his face in her neck while he quickened his pace and her hands clung tight around him. Her lover stroked his tail up and down her thigh as he rutted, another sensation added to the heady feel of their lovemaking, his hands clenching in the pillow either side of her as Rhel'to too was overwhelmed.

“Reinette, oh Reinette,” he panted on her throat before he pressed his mouth down hard. Reinette screamed his name, the names of gods, relishing every thrust that struck her spot, every time he suckled deep on her throat just above the ribbon, every whimper and moan she felt against her neck. The cold surely drew in with the fire just glowing coals, the blizzard howling in the dark beyond their haven, but in his arms and with him inside her she was warm, loved, transcendent. She put a hand in his hair, stroking her thumb over his ear, crying out again as he thrust even harder in his throes. Hips slapped on hips and she curled her legs around him, wanting to embrace him with her all on this special night, wrapping her shins on his back. Just a moment he left her throat, a clumsy kiss pressed to her lips before he dived back to his post. Surely he would mark her through quantity if not quality, leave some sign beyond the choker that he had taken her, but that seemed a blessing above all.

Her very own Saint of Nymeia. No beard, not wearing red, yet her head spun at the gifts he poured on her like raindrops.

“My love!” she cried, stars dancing over her eyes, heat building to its peak. She couldn't last, coming undone by the second, but it was so glorious losing herself in his arms. Rhel'to must have sensed how close she was, redoubling his efforts, head leaving her kiss-flushed neck to rest his eyes on hers.

“Reinette,” he panted, slamming his hips to hers hard enough that she screamed aloud. “Oh, my love, I-” a moan, “I can't-!”

“With me, oh please _with me_ ,” Reinette gasped, taking his head in her hands, lunging as she pulled and smashing their lips together for one last kiss. Every sound they made rang through her, each moan and groan, each pant, each whine and whimper, a mad symphony that sounded wonderful regardless, their kisses made clumsy by raw passion. Teeth scraped, cheeks smacked on each other, but their hips kept a primal rhythm, meeting and parting, in and out over and over, building them both to the peak of pleasure. “Rhel'to!”

“Reinette!”

As though by Starlight miracle, her wish was granted. Even as she finally broke and gave in to the pull of her climax, she felt Rhel'to's seed warm her core, her orgasmic cry one of triumph and unfettered joy before she lost everything but the feel of him and the levinbolts of pleasure raging through her body. Any thought of the cold was gone, she would have sworn a furnace burned in her breast, lips still pressing to his over and over while they both cried out to one another in the heights of their mutual climax. Rhel'to's cum soaked her core further, the dying heat of her desire replaced by the warmth of it within her, meanwhile she drowned his cock in her release and seared more kisses on his face. Breathless, sight lost to stars, all she could do was keep kissing, keep bucking, bask in the pleasure he brought her until the time came for them to crash back down.

Sweat soaked her skin, suddenly cold on it as Reinette returned. Her breath came in pants as did his, both of them boneless, perhaps more spent than they ever had been, but their smiles were still giddy and their eyes still bright. Rhel'to nuzzled his head in the crook of her neck, pressing one gentle little kiss to the ribbon around her throat, staying inside her as she groped down the side of the bed for the cloth they had placed there ready for this night.

“Oh, that was perfect,” she sighed once her chest stopped heaving and her breath came gently again. “I love you so much, Rhel'to, oh merry Starlight.”

“Merry Starlight, my love,” the miqo'te crooned as he slipped out of her, letting the mix of their releases spill onto the cloth, diving in as was his wont to save a mouthful. Reinette giggled as he came back, sharing pooled seed and nectar with her, both of them drinking it down before laughing together.

“One last Starlight gift?” she asked, reaching to wash the leftovers from her slit.

Rhel'to cuddled closer, already working the covers out from beneath them. “Mayhap. Though of course, the greatest gift is that I have you, Reinette.”

She turned the cloth to his flaccid member but kept her eyes on him, heart fluttering. “You know how to leave me speechless,” she giggled after a moment, nuzzling a kiss onto his ear.

“It's the truth,” he murmured back, letting her discard the stained cloth somewhere amid their clothes before wrapping the covers over them. “What would you be doing now had we not shared that night in the Sea of Clouds, Reinette?”

The elezen shook her head, kissing him once. “Nothing that would make me so happy as this,” she replied.

It was his turn to be speechless, eyes wide and wet, that giddy smile on his lips somehow making her love him more. As though that were even _possible_ , but then mayhap it was a night for Starlight miracles, Reinette mused mirthfully. He kissed her in lieu of an answer, snuggling close with all he had, draping his tail affectionately across her midriff while his head stayed in its nook against her neck. She worked an arm under him to embrace his shoulders, just drawing little circles on his back as they snuggled tight.

“I love you,” she crooned. “We didn't finish the wine.”

Rhel'to sighed softly. “And after I wrapped us up so warmly, love.” His voice was still too warm, his indignation completely fake, and they both knew it. Truth be told, the wine seemed to matter very little compared to the warmth of his body on hers. One of his hands rested against her breast, thumb stroking back and forth just beneath her nipple, soothing now rather than arousing even though it still felt so _wonderful_.

Reinette pressed another kiss on her ear. “It can wait until morning.”

“That it can,” Rhel'to purred, shifting a little to rub his face on her throat. “You look so beautiful wearing that ribbon, Reinette.”

“That ribbon and nothing else?” she breathed.

He laughed. “That ribbon and _anything_ , though I admit I do like seeing you naked.”

“As do I,” the elezen teased, kissing his forehead when he looked up at her. “I'd like to wear it all the time, just to remember this night. To have a part of you with me even when we're apart.”

“I feel the same,” the keeper murmured. Beyond their sanctuary, the blizzard seemed to be dying, the wind's howl no longer as keen. But even had it still raged fiercely, Reinette would still have felt utterly warm and safe in his arms. “I do think sometimes what it would be like had we not met.”

“And?” she asked, a little tentative, fingers fidgeting against his back.

Rhel'to met her gaze. “I fear that I'll wake up and find I dreamed you. After all, it sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? A highborn noblewoman falling for a foreign commoner?”

“No more ridiculous than knights smuggling orphans into the warm beneath their coats,” Reinette replied, kissing him again before he could continue. He accepted it eagerly, hand coming up to cup her cheek, holding her a good while before they slowly parted their lips. “I love you and you love me, Rhel'to. That's the _truth_ , I swear.”

Smiling he kissed her back just once, her lips moving to brush tears from his eyes as they were born. Once more she pulled him tight to her, letting him rest his head over her shoulder again, feeling his tail slowly stroke in time with his thumb. “Merry Starlight,” he breathed, only just louder than their breathing and the fire's last gasps.

“Merry Starlight,” Reinette breathed back, closing her eyes to savor just his warmth and his scent. Slowly they drifted off together, ending their Starlight night with perhaps the most wonderful gift of all, just to fall asleep in loving arms and find dreams of each other in their slumber. The last coals burned out and they were left with cold moonlight through the cracks in shuttered windows, a gentle breeze as the blizzard too died out. Bowls, wine bottle and scarf lay on the table, clothes scattered over stones and rug.

And outside, the Starlight snows drifted slowly down upon Coerthas, a silent white curtain falling on that most joyous of days.


End file.
